Governance

NeuRA is established as an independent not-for-profit company, POWMRI Ltd. Mr Paul Brassil, BEc LLB, is Chairman of the Board. He is a partner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia. The Board of NeuRA are all honorary members and include nominees of the Area Health Service, the University of New South Wales, the NHMRC and the NSW Minister for Health as well as a majority of independent directors.

Board Members

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Paul Brassil
BEc LLB ACA FTIA
Independent Director, 1997 - present
Chairman of the Board, 2004 - present
Chairman, Audit Committee, 2003 - present
Chairman, Nominations Committee, 2010 - present
Chairman, Investment Committee, 2007 - 2010

Paul Brassil is a partner in Private Client Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, specialising in advising local and international clients on income tax and related matters. A Chartered Accountant with degrees in Economics and Law, he is a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia. Paul is the firm’s representative on the Commissioner of Taxation’s High Wealth Consultancy Group, and a regular speaker at the firm’s client seminars. He also assists the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia in technical submissions for changes to tax legislation.

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The Hon Justice Annabelle Bennett AO
BSc(Hons) PhD LLB
Independent Director, 2011 - present

The Hon Justice Annabelle Bennett AO is a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia and an additional judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT, having previously practised as a Senior Counsel specialising in intellectual property. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2005. Annabelle is also a Presidential Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; Arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport; Member of Chief Executive Women; Member of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences; and Member of the Law Advisory Committee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She completed her BSc (Hons) and PhD in Biochemistry at Sydney University and later obtained her law degree at the University of New South Wales.

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Andrew Bernard
BSc MPH
Nominee SESLHD, 2008 - present
Director, 2008 - present
Member, Audit Committee, 2011 - present
Member, Investment Committee, 2011 - present

Since 2007, Andrew Bernard has been General Manager, Northern Hospitals Network, SESIAHS. He was formerly General Manager of Area Clinical Services, Sydney South West Area Health Service (2005-07) and Acting Director, Clinical Governance (2007). Andrew led the progress of clinical services redesign across SSWAHS, chairing the management steering committees for both the Surgical Demand and the Aged Care Clinical Redesign Projects, and was a member of the Area’s Clinical Redesign Executive

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Professor Mike Calford
BSc(Hons) PhD
Nominee NHMRC, 2009 - present
Director, 2009 - present

Prof Mike Calford is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Newcastle, with responsibility for management of the University's research and intellectual property, research training and strategic research planning. He is a member of the Executive Committee and chairs the Singapore Advisory Committee. Mike is Professor of Human Physiology, a Director of the Hunter Medical Research Institute and CRC for Asthma Inc Ltd.

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John Grill
BSc BE(Hons) Hon DEng
Independent Director, 2010 - present
Member, Nomination Committee, 2011 - present

John Grill is CEO of WorleyParsons Ltd, Australia’s largest engineering consultancy and a leading ASX-listed company operating in 40 countries. John has personal expertise in every aspect of project delivery in the resources and energy industries. He is very well respected in engineering circles and was named Engineers Australia Professional Engineer of the Year 2007. In 2010, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Sydney in recognition of his contribution to the engineering profession. John and his wife, Rosanne Williams, have sponsored a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Aboriginal Healthy Ageing.

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Prof Margaret Harding
BSc(Hons) PhD DSc FRACI
Nominee UNSW, 2011 - present
Director, 2011 - present

Prof Margaret Harding is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at UNSW. In this role Margaret provides strategic leadership and support to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) in the generation of external research income and improving UNSW’s overall research performance, and in attracting and retaining outstanding academic staff, research only staff and higher degree research students to UNSW. She is a member of the Australian Research Council Advisory Committee, is a Director on the Board of the UNSW Foundation, and an alternate Director on the Board of Bionic Vision Australia. Margaret is a Professor of Chemistry with research programs in biological and medicinal chemistry, antifreeze proteins and ligand-DNA interactions.

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Assoc Prof Richard Matthews AM
MB BS
Nominee SESLHD, 2011 - present
Director, 2011 - present
Member, Building Committee, 2012 - present

Assoc Prof Richard Matthews worked in private practice for 20 years followed by 14 years at Justice Health (formerly Corrections Health Service) including as CEO from 1999-2007. Richard joined NSW Health in 2003 and served eight years as Deputy Director-General, Strategic Development. Key responsibilities were to direct, plan and oversee the Strategic Development Division of NSW Health to ensure that a strong policy framework was provided for the NSW health system. He assumed strategic planning responsibility for Statewide and Rural Health Services and Capital Planning, Primary Health and Community Partnerships, Maternity, Children and Young People’s Health, Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol and many other significant areas.

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Lisa Pettigrew
BA(Hons-Econ)
Nominee NSW Minister for Health and Medical Research, 2011 - present
Director, 2011 - present

Lisa Pettigrew is the National Director for Health Services at CSC, a global leader in providing technology enabled business solutions. Lisa joined CSC in 2009 and was previously a Partner at Accenture leading the Asia Pacific Public Sector Healthcare practice. With 18 years experience in public sector management and IT consulting, her roles have included oversight of health industry consulting operations throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific which necessitated an understanding of healthcare, systems and models internationally. Her role at CSC encompasses leading strategy and operations and being part of CSC's global leadership team for healthcare. In 2010, she was named one of 25 “Women to Watch” in the Australian Financial Review’s Boss Magazine.

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Michael Quigley
BSc BE(Hons)
Independent Director, 2008 - present
Director, 2008 - present

Mike Quigley was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the National Broadband Network (NBN) by the Federal Government in 2009 and has overall responsibility for the roll-out of the network throughout Australia. Formerly, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Alcatel, a global telecommunications company. Mike led Alcatel's team in the negotiations of the Euro 21 billion merger with Lucent Technologies which was completed in 2006. After a distinguished 36 year career with the company in Australia, Europe and the US, in 2007 Mike returned to Australia where he held several directorships including Leighton Contractors and Audinate Pty Ltd. He  is Senior Visiting Fellow, School of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, Australian School of Business, UNSW and member of the Advisory Panel, Innovation Capital.

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Prof Peter Schofield
BScAgr(Hons) PhD DSc
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, 2004 - present
Member, Building Committee, 2008 - present
Member, Nomination Committee, 2010 - present
Chairman, Investment Committee, 2010 - present
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Barry Shepherd
PSM GradDipPSM
Independent Director, 2010 - present
Former Nominee SESLHD, 2005 - 2010
Former Nominee UNSW, 1991 - 1996
Chairman, Building Committee, 2008 - present

Barry Shepherd is the former Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SESIAHS, Director of Corporate Services for SESIAHS and Director, Capital Redevelopment and Executive Director, Corporate Services for Western Health Service, Melbourne. He served as a NeuRA Director during the institute's formative years and was re-nominated to the Board by the Area Health Service. Barry has extensive expertise in the health and medical research sector and the delivery of major projects.

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Prof Peter Smith
RFD MD FRACP FRCPA FAICD
Nominee UNSW, 2005 - present
Director, 2005 - present

Prof Peter Smith is Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW. He specialises in cancer medicine and research following study in Australia, USA and Germany. Peter has held senior hospital management posts in Brisbane and Melbourne, senior academic appointments at the Universities of Queensland, Melbourne and Auckland. He has served on a number of Commonwealth and State Government committees and advisory boards, and is recognised as a leading clinician, researcher and educator. Peter is currently a Director of St Vincent's and Mater Health Sydney, NewSouth Innovations, MedSys Assurance (NZ) and a number of research centres.

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